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    <title>ShellCheck: SC1080 – You need `\` before line feeds to break lines in `[ ]`.</title>
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    <h1>SC1080 – ShellCheck Wiki</h1>
    <a href="https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC1080">See this page on GitHub</a>
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    <h2 id="you-need--before-line-feeds-to-break-lines-in--">You need
<code>\</code> before line feeds to break lines in
<code>[ ]</code>.</h2>
<h3 id="problematic-code">Problematic code:</h3>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb1-1"><a href="SC1080.html#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="bu">[</span> <span class="st">&quot;</span><span class="va">$filename</span><span class="st">&quot;</span> =</span>
<span id="cb1-2"><a href="SC1080.html#cb1-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a>  <span class="st">&quot;</span><span class="va">$otherfile</span><span class="st">&quot;</span> <span class="bu">]</span></span></code></pre></div>
<h3 id="correct-code">Correct code:</h3>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb2"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb2-1"><a href="SC1080.html#cb2-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="bu">[</span> <span class="st">&quot;</span><span class="va">$filename</span><span class="st">&quot;</span> <span class="ot">=</span> <span class="dt">\</span></span>
<span id="cb2-2"><a href="SC1080.html#cb2-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a>  <span class="er">&quot;$otherfile&quot;</span> <span class="ex">]</span></span></code></pre></div>
<h3 id="rationale">Rationale:</h3>
<p>Bash/ksh <code>[[ ]]]</code> can include line breaks anywhere, but
<code>[ ]</code> requires that you escape them. If you are writing a
multi-line <code>[ .. ]</code> statement, make sure to include these
escapes. If the <code>[ ]</code> is supposed to be on a single line,
make sure the <code>]</code> is there.</p>
<h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions:</h3>
<p>None</p>
<h3 id="related-resources">Related resources:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Help by adding links to BashFAQ, StackOverflow, man pages, POSIX,
etc!</li>
</ul>
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    <p style='font-size: 80%'><a href="../index.html">ShellCheck</a> is a static analysis tool for shell scripts. This page is part of its documentation.</p>
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